


Mugs on the Counter

by sockablock



Series: It Takes Two (Critrole RSweek Drabbles) [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Mostly Fluff, critrole rsweek, platonic friendship extravaganza, these two I need to be friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 16:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14957687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sockablock/pseuds/sockablock
Summary: Fjord and Yasha have a quiet chat about homes(Pairing from a day 1 of Critrole RSweek ‘18)





	Mugs on the Counter

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading!

“ _So_ ,” Fjord asked conversationally as he slowly swirled his drink, “how’re you liking the Empire, so far?”

He and Yasha sat alone at the bar. The innkeeper was quietly sweeping up crumbs and dust in the corner of the tavern, all the surrounding tables were empty, and their friends had already gone to bed, exhausted from the day’s travel and from an unexpected run-in with an angry red wyrmling just on the outskirts of town. 

They were the last two patrons of the evening, nursing their flagons in relative peace.

Yasha considered the question. “I like it,” she said eventually. “It has many interesting people, and different things to do, and it is very pretty.”

“Yeah? Was, er, was Xhorhas…not pretty?”

Yasha shrugged. “Some things were. Sometimes you could see the moon through the fog over the swamp. Sometimes the sun would be very bright against the sand. Other times not so much. Here there are flowers everywhere. And grass. It is rather nice.”

Fjord gave her a faint smile. “Yeah, it I’ve never seen so much in one place before, either. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much _land_ in one place, before.”

“You are from the coast.”

“Yup. Usually there’s water everywhere. And sometimes I miss the breeze, and the smell of the sea, and I half-expect every bird we see to sound like a seagull.”

“Here, the birds are three feet tall and sound like us.”

He chuckled. “This certainly is different from home, isn’t it?”

“Definitely,” she said, raising her mug slightly before taking a sip. 

Fjord took a longer drag, then stared at the wooden bar top. “Do you think you’ll ever go back?” he asked quietly after a few beats. 

“I would like to, one day,” she murmured. “That is why I have my book. To save the things I see here, and bring them back to the rest.”

“The rest?”

“Yes.”

When she didn’t elaborate further, Fjord nodded. “Can I see it?” he asked.

Yasha’s solemn demeanor shifted. It was just the barest change, but Fjord caught the new twinkle in her eyes, and he could swear that the edges of a smile were poking through the corners of her mouth. 

“Yes,” she said, and pulled the book out of her satchel and pushed it towards him.

He teased the cover open with the gentlest fingers, out of a mixture of respect, politeness, and the possibly misplaced fear of having his head torn off should he damage anything.

There were various dried flowers and leaves pressed between the pages, a four-leaf-clover and a posy, a tiny golden wildflower and a small white snowdrop, scarlet maple and pale oak leaves, all carefully placed within chapters and across paragraphs.

Fjord’s eye caught a few of the words, and he raised an eyebrow.

“This is a book about…manners?” he asked with mild incredulity. 

Yasha nodded. “Molly gave it to me,” she said. “He thought I might want to learn. But I ended up using it for this instead.”

Fjord grinned sheepishly. “That’s probably for the best,” he said. “This book isn’t really…accurate.”

Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” he sighed, running a hand through his short hair, “it’s definitely _about_ etiquette, but it’s not really up to date. I’m just skimming a bit, but I think this book is talkin’ about things people did hundreds of years ago. I mean, this says that wine has to be drunk with the left hand. And that men have to enter the back of a carriage first, but women always enter the front before. Nobody really does that anymore. The rules have changed. Molly thought this would be useful?”

Yasha was silent for a moment. Then she laughed softly, and shook her head. “He did,” she agreed, “but now that I think of it, perhaps he is not the best reference for knowing what is commonly done these days.”

Fjord snorted. “If Molly’s operating under politeness conventions from 200 years ago, that would really explain a lot about him.”

“Maybe we should find _him_ a book.”

Fjord shot her a sideways glance. “Was that a joke?” he asked. “Or were you being serious?”

“Both, I believe.”

He made a soft _hmph_ sound, and smiled. “You’re not so bad, Yasha.”

This seemed to confuse her. “Er…thank you?” she tried. “You are not bad either.”

His lips quirked upwards, and he lifted his mug again. “We should hang out like this more,” he said. “You’re much calmer than the others.”

“That is not hard,” she said. “But I agree. That might be…nice.”

“Well, there we go,” he nodded. “Cheers to things that are nice. Like grass. And good company.”

“Cheers,” she echoed. 

They clinked their drinks together and drained them, letting the warmth of the mead settle into their stomachs. 

Then Yasha considered her empty flagon. “One more, perhaps?” she suggested.

“Sure,” Fjord grinned, gesturing with his own empty tankard. “I think I could go for that.”

“There is one more thing I like about this country,” Yasha said after the innkeeper had been summoned and more drink had been procured.

“Oh?” Fjord asked. “What’s that?”

“The people. I like you all, and the Mighty Nein.”

“Yeah,” Fjord said with a soft smile. “Me too.”

And then they drank, and plunked their mugs down onto the wooden bar top, and headed upstairs towards their respective rooms and turned in for the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again for reading this silly little thing! If you ever want to shout at me about critical role, hit me up [@sockablock](https://www.sockablock.tumblr.com) on tumblr!


End file.
